Tara W. Fortune Immersion Projects Coordinator Tara Fortune is an Immersion Teaching Specialist and Coordinator of the Immersion Research and Professional Development Project at the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition at the University of Minnesota . Since completing her graduate studies in 2001, Dr. Fortune devotes most of her professional time in the preparation and continuing education of immersion educators throughout the U.S. She is a founding member and serves on the editorial staff for theThe American Council on Immersion Education (ACIE) Newsletter, a collaborative publication written for and by immersion practitioners that is currently in its tenth year of dissemination to a U.S. and international readership. Dr. Fortune is frequently invited as a lecturer in the field of immersion education. Her research interests include the role of student language use and social interaction in content-based, dual language classrooms. Recent interests also include struggling immersion learners and immersion language assessment.

Education

• Ph.D., 2001. Curriculum and Instruction, University of Minnesota.
  Dissertation Title: "Understanding Immersion Students' Oral Language Use as a Mediator of Social Interaction in the Classroom"
• M.A., 1995. Second Languages and Cultures Education, University of Minnesota.
  Plan B Paper Title: "The Private Bilingual Schools of Mexico City: An Immersion-Model Approach to Second Language Acquisition"
• B.A. 1978. Classical Languages, German, and Humanities, College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, MN

Selected Publications

Fortune, D. J. & Tedick, D. J. (Eds.) (forthcoming). Pathways to multilingualism: Evolving perspectives on immersion education. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, Ltd.

Fortune, T.W., & Tedick, D.T. (2003, August). Foreign language immersion programs: What parents want to know. The ERIC Digest. Online: http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0304fortune.html

Tedick, D.J. & Fortune, T.W. (forthcoming). Preparing and developing language immersion teachers. In A. Burns & J. Richards (Eds.), Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teaching Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Walker, C.L., Ranney, S. & Fortune, T.W. (2005). Preparing preservice teachers for English language learners: A content-based approach. In D. J. Tedick (Ed.) Second language teacher education: International perspectives (pp. 313-333). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.